Falling
by zelda3469
Summary: Link lives in Hyrule's Opera House. Many believe he is nothing more than a rumor, a myth. Others know he's there, always waiting and watching. What happens when Link takes a fancy to Zelda? Does he just watch her from the shadows? A collaborative fiction between LEva114 and myself. ZeLink!
1. Prologue

**Zellie: Okay...**  
**Eva: This is a thing...**  
**Zellie: So it's like a Phantom of the Opera spoof...**  
**Eva: But it's not really a spoof...**  
**Zellie: Uh...**  
**Eva: We don't own Zelda!**  
**Zellie: If we did we would be swimming in cash.**  
**Eva: And that would be awesome.**  
**Zellie: Oh! This is also a colb thing... Just to let all you people know.**  
**Eva: Hehehehehe... This was fun to write.**  
**Zellie: And we haven't even gotten to her favorite part. *headdesk***  
**Eva: *rubs hands together, cackling* So read on, lovelies. It only gets better and more angsty from here!**

As the lights dimmed, the chatter in the audience died down into nearly silent whispers and then finally ceased.

"Is it starting?" Aryll asked loudly, and several audience members around her tittered at the little girl in the big flouncy dress. Her mother shot her a warning glance, then settled back into her seat, her hands folded in her lap neatly. Aryll studied her for a moment, then copied her mother's pose. She shot a toothy grin at her big brother sitting next her, small feet in shiny patent leather shoes just making it over the edge of the seat.

Giving his younger sister a playful wink, Link smiled widely as well and devoted his attention to the red curtains on stage. He was anxious to see the heavy fabric open and reveal the scene for the night's performance. He shot a quick glance at Aryll when he felt the sleeve of his jet black jacket being gently tugged.

"Big brother, is this a movie?"

"Shush Aryll, and no. This is an opera." Link murmured quietly, not wanting to attract his parents' attention.

"Oh." She was quiet for a moment, then tugged on Link's jacket again. "Big brother?"

"What?"

"What's an opera?"

As the blonde in the tuxedo opened his mouth, the curtains were drawn and several lights were cast at the stage. In the pit, the maestro of the Hyrule Opera House raised his black baton after tapping it on the podium he was standing on.

Link was on the verge of drooling when he looked at the set on stage. There were cannons aimed at the background, painted to look just like a vast ocean. A set of stairs had be built to the left of the scene, and a blonde woman dressed in baggy white pants and a tattered blue shirt was standing on the stairs. One of her hands was resting on the sword at her side while the other was touching her forehead. She squinted, gazing into the crowd. Aryll stiffened when it looked like the woman's gaze passed over her, trying to make it look like she was watching.

Music suddenly blasted out from the pit, a bassoon solo marked with several light tapping noises starting to echo around the large hall. The woman began to sing in a low, rich voice, winding up and down scales almost effortlessly as she sang along to the music, starting to slink across the deck. The solo lasted for maybe about five minutes, and by the end, the woman was beginning to pant, her tanned skin shining under the hot lights. Her voice didn't break as she finally ended with a higher pitched note, cutting off with a fist raised in the air and a sweeping bow. Everyone applauded the soloist, and then she was joined by the rest of the cast.

Aryll glanced down at the carpeted floor. The show had just started and the small child was already bored out of her mind. She looked at her brother and scowled when she saw his attention fixed raptly on the stage. The tiny girl crossed her hands over her chest and slouched into her padded chair.  
This was going to be a _looooong_ night.

* * *

Aryll started awake when a piercingly high note was hit on stage, clapping her hands over her ears and sighing. It still wasn't over? She looked at Link, and he was virtually in the same position as before, his elbows resting on his knees and his fingers steepled in front of him, watching a soprano on stage perform a solo.

Out of nowhere, the woman on stage let out a scream as the floor beneath her feet violently lurched. Several of the performers fell to their hands and knees, caught off guard by the sudden tremor. The floor continued to shake and tilt, and many of the audience members screamed. The lights flickered on, then just as rapidly shut off. This repeated for a while, the ornate glass chandeliers swinging ominously as the Opera House continued to shake. Pieces of the set started to fall on stage, and with a harmonic scream that started just as the violins in the pit finally went silent, the soloist playing the pirate captain was crushed by a lighting fixture falling from the ceiling, her body disappearing under the heavy piece of metal. There was a collective gasp from the audience and more terrified shouts from the performers on stage.

Moving in a wave of panic, people were now trying to push themselves out of their seats and run for the exits, shoving others out of the way and trampling a few unlucky audience members in the process. Link instinctively grabbed his sister's arm, his fingers already leaving bright red marks. He leaped out of his seat, jerking Aryll forward. As the shaking continued, Link followed behind his parents, shoving past others who were much taller than him. Tightening his grip on Aryll's arm, the blonde ran. Screams and shouts elevated in volume as stones and dust started to rain down from the ceiling, completely muting the squeaky noise coming from a swinging chandelier.

There was a loud snap, and the largest of all the elegant chandeliers came crashing down, crushing many in the panicking crowd. Link turned around frantically at the sound of glass shattering and screaming, and the crowd surged forward, ripping his hand off of Aryll's arm and pushing him forward on a wave of black tuxedos and evening gowns. He was knocked to the ground and just barely got to his feet in time to avoid being crushed by the frightened herd. He looked around in a panic, seeing no sign of either his parents or Aryll. He started to dash through the spaces in between people's legs, ducking and weaving in a maze of sequins and expensive, shiny fabrics. A foot stuck out carelessly tripped him, and he slammed into the floor just as screams began to echo above him. He rolled out of the way of the same foot that had knocked him over, then shrieked as something heavy pierced and crashed onto his flung out arm.

Blood began to stain the already red carpet an even deeper shade of crimson, and Link howled at the searing pain in his hand and his forearm when he tried to rip his arm out from under the fallen chandelier. Tears trailed down his face, and he curled up next to the chandelier, trying to go as still as possible to avoid agitating it further. He remained in this stiff fetal position until the thundering stampede around him finally ceased. The hand thrown over his eyes shifted slightly, and he saw the faintest bit of light shining from the one chandelier still hanging from the damaged ceiling.

He unrolled gingerly, forever mindful of his trapped arm and began coughing up the dust that permeated the air and snuck its way down his throat. He squinted to try and see through the choked air. Small lumps, either stones or bodies, littered the floor, and Link's heart almost stopped when he saw one clothed in a familiar blue frilly dress.

The room was dead silent now, and he could hear the faint cries that his sister was pushing out, sobbing bleakly at the pain in her ribs and her legs and her shoulders. Blood slowly seeped through her dress, staining the sky-blue fabric forever.

"Aryll?" Link called out hesitantly, but the tiny figure didn't seem to hear him, didn't stop weeping and rocking back and forth, almost like she had gone deaf to the world of the living. Soon, she only emitted pained, choked gasps, and then finally, thankfully, she went still, one petite arm flung out at an awkward angle behind her, grasping futilely for her big brother.

* * *

Everything was dark. The last light had flickered out at least an hour ago, leaving a traumatized Link trapped in a sea of bodies and black. His right arm, still stuck under the chandelier, had gone numb except for the occasional bright pulse of pain. Several times the boy had attempted to free himself from the mess of twisted metal and broken glass, but that had proven pointless long ago. His sobs of defeat were the only sounds that broke the silence in the air.

"Bloody hell! Look at this!" Link's ears twitched at the deep voice. He had been so caught up in weeping that he hadn't heard the man's footsteps. Another voice came from around the same location of the first one.

"Do you think there's anyone still alive?" A light briefly waved over Link's teary face. The blonde sniffled as he caught a glimpse of his sister's still body. Her skin was ghastly pale - it matched the ice white lace on her dress - and no doubt cold as the air on a December night.

"Aryll..." Link choked. The light beam of light darting around the hall suddenly focused on the only living soul left in the room.

"Hey! Kid! Are you alright?" It was the deep voice again, and this time there was a genuine concern in its tone instead of the previous callousness it had displayed. Link blinked back the tears in his eyes.

"I... I need help." He called out in a raspy voice, waving his good arm frantically. There were a few soft thumps as one of the men made their way to the blond, accidentally tripping over corpses, while the other stayed by the door, keeping his flashlight aimed at the child. Link blinked furiously, fighting the urge to pull his right hand up and shield his face from the blinding white light.

"Hey, kid. Everything is going to be alright." Another beam of light bounced around the room as a second flashlight was clicked on. Again, the man coming for Link tripped, kicking over a pair of bodies, their faces now turned toward Link. A high pitched cry came from the blonde as he saw past the glare for a moment, and he covered his face up with his good arm, howling as he once again curled up into a small ball. He recognized those two lifeless faces, even though one of their heads was smashed in and dented. A large bloodied stone from the ceiling sat innocently in a pool of dark red blood nearby.  
The man by the door dropped his flashlight, surprised by the abrupt scream.

"What's wrong?"

"They're all dead! They're all dead! My family is dead!" The boy burst into new tears, pulling frantically at the arm trapped under the chandelier. Pain spiked up and down his arm, making him feel sick, but he was beyond caring at this point. The only thing that mattered was that he got away, away, _away_ from this cavernous, glorified tomb.

Link sobbed and wailed as the two men got on either side of him and lifted the chandelier enough that he was able to scoot out from underneath it. His arm dripped blood at a sluggish pace, soaking his sleeve and making him feel lightheaded. His mind screamed at him to flee, horror and grief blocking out all other rational thought, but blood loss, shock, and exhaustion dulled these two primal emotions, dumbing them down. They wrestled with each other for awhile, and while this war happened, Link was left speechless and dazed on the floor of the opera house, sitting there with nothing left and losing blood fast. The flashlight beams played over him again now that he was free of the chandelier, and one of his rescuers gasped suddenly.

"Holy shit, look at his hand!" Link looked down at the floor where his hand rested, then fainted when he saw a ragged stump where his right pinky used to be, his body slumping lifelessly to the floor as he gave into the need to shut down and not think.

It would be another decade before Link set foot in that opera house, making it his home and his playground for years to come.

**Zellie: So... Let us know what you think. Click that button down there that says review.**  
**Eva: Zellie, it's a comment box now.**  
**Zellie: Whatever.**  
**Eva: *waves hands in air* Review! Pretty please! **  
**Zellie: Do it now! *jumps up and down***


	2. Chapter 1

**Zellie: We don't own the LoZ...**  
**Eva: If we did, it would be cool... But we don't. So. Sadness.**  
**Zellie: Yay! Filler!**  
**Eva: Zellie, this is exposition. Don't count :P**  
**Zellie: =P ...Okay, so quick lesson... Opera houses did/still take students and work with them in music and dance... It's basically like a boarding school. And of course people still get payed to play for a company with the opera house... Okay, I'll shut up now...**  
**Eva: The more you know! Now, on with the violence and fighting YAYYYYYY**  
**Zellie: *facepalm***

Light poured through the large, elegant, glass windows of the opera house only to be caught by the thick red curtains inside. Soft footsteps sounded through the Gothic building as a young woman of twenty wandered down a carpeted hall as she hummed a soothing tune, her fingers waving with each count.

"And down this hallway are the dormitories. You'll have it all to yourself for now; you're our only student." Zelda looked back at the man with the massive frame stuffed in a suit. His hands were clasped in front of his broad chest, and his fingers twitched when he shot her a neutral smile. She returned it shyly, then ducked her head.

"Thank you, Mr. Atropos..." she said softly, hoping he would say something like, "oh, it's okay, call me Demise," but he said nothing of the sort. He only nodded, his orange ponytail bobbing behind him.

"Now, this is your room." He walked over, placed his palm over a french style handle and pushed the plain white door open. "Be sure to keep it clean, and please try not to break anything." She nodded, looking around the small, but luxurious room in appreciation. She set her bag down on the carpeted ground and turned to face Mr. Atropos, but he was gone and the door was shutting.

"Once you've settled in a little, come back to my office. You can meet your new teacher after his rehearsal ends." The blonde nodded again as the door shut, leaving her alone in the empty room.

* * *

If there was anything Ghirahim hated most, it was the sound of wrong notes clashing with one another. The sound was just unappealing and made his skin crawl, especially when these sour notes were loud, in the third octave, and blatantly obvious to even anyone who was tone deaf. Twitching, the conductor waved his hand in a circle and cut the entire orchestra off. He slammed his white baton down on the music stand he was currently using as a podium and scrunched his face up in disgust.

"How can you miss that, piccolo?!" Ghirahim's pale face was rapidly turning an angry shade of red as he screamed at the green-haired girl holding a miniature flute close to her chest. "It's an F sharp! Not F natural! How hard is it?!" Ghirahim darted forward and yanked the instrument away from the trembling woman. "One three three pinky!" He demonstrated the fingering for the simple note in a rather aggressive manner, making the woman feel stupid. Saria pushed her lips together until they were a colorless seam and reached for her shiny silver piccolo.

"Don't fuck up next time!" The very picky conductor shoved the instrument back into its owner's hands and returned to the front of the orchestra, his face still a dark shade of red. With a sigh, Ghirahim ran his fingers through his silky hair and pushed the white strands behind his ear. He then flicked through his music score and glanced at the rest of the musicians in the room.

"From the beginning," came the flat order. Groans and sighs could be heard through the nearly empty auditorium as everyone fiddled with their music, praying that this would be the last time they had to run through the exceptionally long song.

Bravely, Fi stood from her chair, oboe in hand. "But Ghira, we were only fifty measures from the end, and this song is seven pages for some of us! Can't we just finish the last few measures so we can save our chops for tonight?" Her sky-blue eyes locked with Ghirahim's as he drummed his fingers on the music stand.

"Oh, the fussy oboe thinks she can tell me how to do my job." Irritation quickly crept into his voice. Fi glared as she took a step forward, a surprised gasp coming from everyone else.

"You need someone to tell you how to do your job. You don't think about the people performing your music, you only think about yourself." She paused to see the conductor shaking, then continued. "We are tired. We have been rehearsing for three hours straight. Isn't that long enough?"

"No! It apparently isn't, considering the fact people are still fucking up!" Ghirahim shouted as he kicked the music stand to the side. Staff paper and sheets of music littered a small portion of the stage after the stand hit the wooden floor with a clank.

Stomping her foot when she finally reached her conductor, Fi yelled right in Ghirahim's face. "We are exhausted! The longer you keep us here, the worse we are going to get!" Growling, the conductor tackled the oboist to the ground. All of the players immediately shifted in their chairs when Fi let out a loud scream. Almost everyone's eyes dialated to the size of saucers as they watched the two scuffle briefly. Sitting front and center, the young blonde woman stared, her mouth ajar. Ghirahim finally ended up on top, his hands tangled in Fi's bright blue hair.

Makar, the first violinist, was the first to react, and he jumped from his seat and made his way to the two fighting on the ground. He grabbed Ghirahim's shoulders and started to try to pull him off of his co-worker, but he resisted, curling over the blue-haired woman like a snake. He wrenched her head up and slammed it into the floor as hard as he could. Fi shrieked in pain, her hands flying up to claw at his eyes.

"Get off me!" She kicked out furiously as her conductor pulled at her blue hair and smashed the back of her head into the floor. Ghirahim's breathing was heavy and labored; keeping this woman down was rather difficult, but he managed.

On the fourth or fifth blow, Fi's eyes rolled back into her head, and she stopped struggling, her hands falling to the floor limply. Several people screamed, and Makar finally succeeded in prying Ghirahim off of the oboist. He lunged for the fallen blue figure on the floor, but several other players finally jumped from their seats, the shock of seeing a full on brawl happening in the middle of their rehearsal finally wearing off and changing into panic. The harpist rushed over to Fi, platinum blond hair streaming out behind her. Several others helped restrain the enraged conductor. Makar reeled to the front when a pale fist struck his jaw, and his face flushed. He slapped the snarling man across the face, the resulting crack of skin on skin making the panicking orchestra go silent for a split second.

"Pull yourself together for Din's sake!" he shouted roughly, and Ghirahim finally relaxed a little, blinking rapidly as a red handprint bloomed bright red on his cheek. He shook his head, seeming to be a slight daze, and Mikau, Fado, and Makar all backed up a little bit, everyone watching the conductor with baited breath as he stood there staring at Fi. Hylia had eased her head onto her lap, and was now in the process of trying to help her, the harpist's breath hitching fitfully in the back of her throat. Blood was staining her white clothes red, and no matter how many times Hylia lightly slapped Fi's face to try and rouse her, she wouldn't wake. After what seemed like an eternity, Ghirahim finally turned on his heel and stalked out of the auditorium without another word. Zelda shrank in her seat when he passed, but he didn't even spare her a glance. The doors slammed shut with a crash, and the orchestra burst into new chaos, everyone babbling and gossiping about the latest fit the conductor had fallen into.

Zelda stood up from her seat, her shining blue eyes focused on the unconscious woman with worry."Is there anything I can do to help?!"

"Call for an ambulance!" Hylia cried, tears slowly spilling from her eyes. Shaking, Zelda nodded before reaching into her pocket for her cell phone. She dropped the phone clumsily, her fingers fumbling for it fruitlessly before admitting defeat and bending over to retrieve it.

"Wait! Don't call!" screamed a member of the orchestra, "We'll all be out of a job!" Zelda hesitated. To get expelled on her first day...

But she couldn't just let the poor woman on stage just bleed out...

"I'm going to call..." she said slowly to several loud groans and protests. She quickly added, "but I'll say she fell." Everyone on stage hesitated for a moment, then nodded their heads in agreement, murmuring as they stared fearfully at the prone figure on the floor and the woman clothed in white hunched over her, weeping silently.

* * *

_Unacceptable..._ Thought the man watching from the balcony. He brushed his blond bangs out of his face as Fi was loaded onto a gurney, her bloody hair matting to the white pillow._ I have had enough of that... that madman._

Without making a sound, the man stepped forward and gripped the wooden banister. All nine of his fingers curled around the white wood. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding as his eyes scanned the few orchestra members who had remained when the paramedics arrived. Link recognized four of the five people conversing off to the side of the stage. He tilted his head as he studied the last distant figure. Was she a new student?

Link gasped and staggered backwards when she turned around to talk to someone else. He rubbed his eyes before taking another look at the figure in pink. _She looks just like..._ He shook his head, not believing what he was seeing.

"Aryll..." Link whispered to himself as he merged back into the shadows.

**Eva: And of course, Ghira is the conductor/teacher. Of course.**  
**Zellie: Yay! Cameo! **  
**Eva: If you finished, congrats. You're a beast, and you deserve a beastly cookie.**  
**Zellie: *pulls tray of beastly cookies out of the oven* Mmm... They smell good!**  
**Eva: And if you review, you get two...**  
**Zellie: Three if you smack some sense into Ghira...**  
**Eva: Oh, and it seems there's some confusion about what we meant by "based" off of Phantom of the Opera. We don't mean it follows the plot. A better word would probably be inspired. The only similarity is really that it's in an opera house.**  
**Zellie: And Link is sort of like the phantom... In a weird way...**


End file.
